1st ever DEVO with Doug!

What up Jr High! I’m really excited because this is my first official Devo with Doug, which will be my weekly entry on the blog! I will be recapping all the craziness in the junior high service, and what God has been showing us through the teachings. Yesterday we played a game answering a bunch of random and quirky questions and Joe’s and the 7th grade boys won (even though they totally cheated). We also continued our “grow” series with an awesome guest speaker named Ryan, who talked about how pain brings growth. He used the image of a “diamond in the rough” to explain how through all the rough things in life there is a diamond that will come out of it. I don’t know about you guys but it seems like to me that a lot of people that I truly care about are going through a really rough time right now. There are so many things that are going on that are making me ask God, "Why are you letting this happen?"

Do you ever find yourself frustrated with God, and can’t figure out why there is so much pain in this world? I just want to let you guys know that this is totally healthy and normal!

I want to encourage you guys that none of the pain or problems in your life are in vain. There is a purpose for every single one of them. Romans 5:2-5 says “we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character and character hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” God wants to teach you something through every difficult situation in your life, and he wants to develop you into Godly men and women who will grow in perseverance and in character. He wants to be that diamond in the rough, and wants to teach you something about himself or about yourself. The pain that I have been going through recently is seeing so many of my friends struggling really badly through life and realizing that I cannot be the one to bring them the comfort they need. What I believe God has been showing me is that it’s not my job to have all the answers and that I cannot comfort them the way they need to be comforted. Only HE can! All I can do is continue loving them and trying my hardest to be there for them.

So what is God trying to teach you? What does the Bible say about the problems you’re facing?

As a junior high staff, we love you guys more then you could ever imagine and we hope and pray that you guys feel comfortable coming to us to help you figure out these questions.

Love you guys,

Doug